Nightlight travel clock with rotating dial circa 1740

Bronze travel night light consisting of a rockery base, a removable foot and an upper part including the movement and the dial.
The rotating dial indicates the hours with engraved and openwork Roman numerals, it pivots on the sides for optimal comfort of use.
Reading is done by the fixed point present in the central part of the arabesque which borders the dial.
This area, which is openworked on a translucent horn background, allowed the time to be read at night using a candle placed on the reverse, on a small, specially dedicated platform.

Original movement with verge escapement, silk thread suspension and rear winding.

The plate is signed “Joseph Galindo in the Hague”.*

Dutch work from the first half of the 18th century.

Height: 36.5 cm

A nearby pendulum is published on page 152, figure A of Pierre Kjellberg's book "The encyclopedia of the French clock".

*Joseph Galindo is an English watchmaker, originally from the Spitafields district of London.
He worked in the first part of the 18th century before going bankrupt in 1751.
Source “Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World,” 1929, Pomona press.

Our opinion :

The rare night light that we are presenting does not have hands that rotate like the vast majority of clocks from this period, but an openwork dial whose rotation allows you to read the time at a glance.
It also allowed nighttime reading thanks to the openwork hour numeral which was backlit using a candle placed behind the translucent horn.
Several similar models are known, some with folding or removable legs, but many are now orphaned and survive without their base.
The origin of this type of pendulum seems to be Swiss but its ingenuity allowed it to transcend borders.
A renowned watchmaker, Jacques De Beu, originally from Geneva, specialized in this production during the reign of Louis French capital.
Like many watchmakers of his time, Joseph Galindo, who passed through England before settling in Holland, may have come from a Protestant emigrant family from France or Switzerland.
His signature in French clearly indicates that he spoke our language or that he intended his works for a French-speaking clientele.
The Hague is the capital of the United Provinces, it is also a hub of world trade at the beginning of the 18th century, because it is located a few kilometers from the port of Amsterdam which housed the headquarters of the Dutch India Company.
The Rotterdam / Amsterdam route was then an obligatory transit for thousands of sailors and traders and represented a significant potential for customers who might be interested in a removable clock with night reading.
Only a handful of night lights of this type have reached us, which makes our pendulum an object of great decoration but above all a collector's item of the greatest rarity.